


Snow storm

by Trash_PandaTO



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, First Meetings, Pre-Relationship, second meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-12 03:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13539171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trash_PandaTO/pseuds/Trash_PandaTO
Summary: Waverly gets stranded on the side of the road in a snow storm. Purgatory's newest Officer is sent to assist her.It's a different take on their first meeting.





	1. Chapter 1

Nicole used to love winter. As a kid, she loved the crunch of snow under her boots and playing in it for hours. When she got older, she loved how it would muffle the sounds of the world around her. She even loved the cold air and how it would sting her skin.

But that was before she had to cover the late shift in Purgatory in inclement weather conditions. Before she had to drive through what was a near white-out to assist a citizen who had called the station and requested help. At this very moment, the speedometer of Nicole’s cruiser showed that she was driving slowly enough that she could probably outrun the car. She could barely see anything through the heavy snow, and it was dark, so her headlights illuminated only a short stretch of road ahead of her. She didn’t have an exact location for where the person who had called for help was, so she was scanning both sides of the road carefully as she was slowly driving further and further away from town.

After about ten more minutes of searching, hands clamped tightly to the steering wheel, she finally spotted a vehicle, or rather, the tail lights of a vehicle that had slid half way into the ditch. She slowly pulled up behind the car, and turned on the hazard and flashing lights of her cruiser. She radioed her location to the station and let them know that she had found the car and was going to check on the passenger to see what kind of assistance they needed.

She grabbed her flashlight and got out, making her way toward the other vehicle. It was a small, red Jeep, and as she approached, she saw that the rear left tire was completely flat and torn. The windows were fogged up, so she couldn’t see how many passengers were inside. She made it to the driver side window and carefully tapped the back of her flashlight against it, which earned her a short surprised squeak from inside the vehicle. The door opened and a young woman poked her head out.

“Officer! Sorry, I saw your cruiser, but I didn’t notice you got out of the car already. You scared me a little.”

Nicole flashed a smile and deliberately pointed the flashlight away from the woman, who was currently looking at her with wide eyes.

“Sorry, ma’am. We got your call for assistance. I can see that your vehicle is no longer in operating condition. Can you tell me what happened?” She pointed the flashlight back toward the blown tire, and then around the front, where the Jeep had dipped into the ditch. It didn’t look bad, but clearly damaged enough that she would need to call a tow truck.

“Yeah. My, my back tire blew, I was driving home, but then it blew and I started spinning sideways, and then just slid off the road. I couldn’t stop in time.” The young woman sounded a bit breathless relaying the events to Nicole, and she wanted to make sure that she didn’t actually get injured when the Jeep hit the ditch.

“That’s quite understandable, Miss…”

“Waverly. Waverly Earp.”

Nicole nodded. “Miss Earp. It’s hard to keep control of a car after a tire blows, and I'd venture a guess that it's impossible to do in these conditions. Are you okay? Are you hurt at all? It looks like your Jeep hit the side of that ditch pretty hard.”

“No, I think I am okay. I mean, I might have hit my head a little, but other than that, I am fine, I think.”

Nicole lifted the beam of her flashlight a little, careful not to point it directly at Waverly’s face, but she did want to take a look at her head to confirm.

“Okay. Do you mind if I take a look at your head? Just to make sure it is nothing to worry about?”

“Yes, no! I mean, that’s okay, Officer.” Waverly turned to face Nicole with a small smile.

“Please, call me Nicole” she said, as she gently turned Waverly’s face into the light a little bit more. She could see some swelling and early stages of bruising above her right eye, but there was no blood and Waverly appeared lucid and fine otherwise, if maybe a little shaken up. “That’s quite the goose egg” she said, lowering her voice a bit given that she was hovering close to Waverly’s ear. “I have an ice pack in the cruiser. You should put that on it; might keep the swelling down a bit.”

“Okay, Officer….Nicole.”

Nicole stepped back and looked around. The snow was coming down even heavier now, and she knew it was unlikely that they would be able to get a tow truck to come out in these conditions and this late. She pulled up the collar of her coat a bit to shrug off the snow that had accumulated on it over the past few minutes.

“Miss Earp” she started.

“Waverly. If I get to call you Nicole, you have to call me Waverly.”

“Okay, Waverly. I don’t think we’ll be able to get a tow truck out in this weather. But if you gather your things, I can drive you home and you can put a call in for someone to come out tomorrow morning to get your vehicle. Would that be alright?” She wanted to make sure that Waverly was comfortable with the offered resolution to the situation, so she kept her voice as gentle as possible.

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s, I guess there isn’t much of a choice here.” Waverly sounded a little upset, but ultimately understanding.

Nicole held out her hand for Waverly to grab, so she could help her out of the Jeep and out of the ditch. Waverly quickly gathered her purse and phone and let Nicole lead her to the cruiser and help her into the passenger seat. Nicole then went back to the Jeep, pulled the keys from the ignition and locked both doors. She checked whether the vehicle was far enough in the ditch that it would not pose a road hazard for now, and when she was satisfied that it was safe to leave the Jeep, she made her way back to the cruiser. She popped the trunk to find the First Aid kit that was stored there, and pulled out the ice pack that was part of it and cracked it a couple of times to activate it. After shrugging off more snow, she got back into the driver seat and handed Waverly the ice pack. 

“Thank you” Waverly gingerly pressed the ice pack against her eye.

“Not a problem. I have to radio into the station to let them know what is happening, and then I’ll drive you home, okay?” Waverly nodded.

Nicole quickly relayed the situation to Ruthie, informing her that she was about to drive Miss Earp the rest of the way home.

“Earp? That was Waverly’s car? Is she okay?”

Nicole shot Waverly a quick glance. “Yeah, she is fine. Bumped her head a bit and the Jeep isn’t driveable anymore, but she is fine.”

“Thank god!” Ruthie exclaimed, relief evident in her voice. “Tell that girl to take it easy, and if the roads are better tomorrow, I’ll swing by Shorty’s and drop off some homemade pie for her.”

“Okay, I’ll tell her. Thanks, Ruthie.” Once again, she glanced over at Waverly. “Sounds like you’re quite the popular girl around here.”

Waverly ducked her head a bit. “It’s all in the smile and wave” she said, words that sounded rehearsed and not quite genuine. Nicole frowned slightly before Waverly continued “Well that, and I serve alcohol in the only bar in town, so people tend to want to stay on my good side.”

“Ah. Okay. Duly noted. I hope that rescuing you from the side of the road in an epic snow storm puts me on your good side for now?” Waverly was really smiling now, eyes crinkling at the corners and Nicole suddenly felt very warm.

“Oh, absolutely. My hero!” She made an exaggerated motion with her hands and blinked through her lashes at Nicole in a way that was reminiscent of a cartoon character swooning over the knight in shining armour. It made Nicole chuckle and blush deeply.

She cleared her throat. “Okay, Miss Earp.”

“Waverly. Please, call me Waverly. I thought we had already established that.”

“Right. Sorry. Okay, Waverly. Where am I driving you?”

Waverly pondered the question for a moment. “Well, technically I was on my way out to the Homestead. My sister and I live out there, but she is away for a couple of days, so no one is really waiting for me there.” She was rambling now, sounding as breathless as she did when Nicole first asked her about what had happened to the Jeep. “But if you drive me out there, then I won’t have a vehicle and I’ll be kind of stuck in the middle of nowhere. I can stay in the apartment above Shorty’s, though, in town. I work there, and Shorty lets me stay in the apartment when I need it. So can you drive me there?”

“Shorty’s bar it is.” Nicole said, turned the engine on and pointed her cruiser toward town. “I’ll have to warn you, it’s gonna be a bit of a slow haul to get there in this snow.” 

Waverly looked up and out of the windshield, noticing for the first time just how much harder it was snowing compared to when she had first hit the ditch. “Yeah, no worries. I can see, it is really coming down! Just thank you for coming out to get me at all in this.”

“Not a problem at all. It’s my job. Now, are you okay for now? Is your head okay? Do you need anything? I have some water” she pointed to her reusable stainless steel water bottle “and there is probably a granola bar in the glove box if you are hungry at all.”

Waverly smirked a bit, but shook her head. “I’m okay, thank you. Would you mind if we turn up the heat a little bit, though? My toes feel a little bit frozen.”

“Of course” Nicole reached over and fiddled with the knobs and dials for a bit. “There, that should help.”

“Thank you.”

They drove along in silence for a while, slowly making their way back towards town. After a few minutes, Waverly looked over, scanning Nicole’s face and profile.

“You’re new in town?”

It wasn’t really a question, more stating the obvious. “Yeah, I am. Moved here from the city a few weeks ago.”

“Oh. I haven’t seen you around yet. I don’t mean to sound like I know everybody, but…I kind of do.”

Nicole smirked. “You do?” 

“Well yes, I mean, I’ve lived here all my life. And I do work in the only bar in town.” She shrugged her shoulders pointedly to highlight how that alone made her an expert in knowing probably way too much about Purgatory’s residents. 

“Right. Well, like I said, I only just moved here not long ago, and as the rookie officer, I’ve been working the late shifts for the most part, so that doesn’t exactly lend itself to socializing with the locals in the bar at night.”

“We are open for lunch, though, so you could check it out during the day some time? First drink is on me! As a thank you for today, for helping me!”

Nicole could hear what she thought was some level of eagerness in Waverly’s voice. Was she asking me to hang out with her? More likely she was just being friendly to the new person in town, and the person who was currently driving her home after helping her out of a tough spot.

“I’ll make a note of that.” She grinned. “Thank you, Waverly.”

“Yay!” Waverly quickly put the ice pack down in her lap and clapped her hands together. Nicole chuckled at that very open display of excitement that made it a little bit harder to just pass Waverly’s behaviour off as being friendly to the newbie. 

They both returned to silently looking ahead, focussing in the road. It didn’t feel awkward, but after a while, Nicole saw Waverly fidgeting with the ice pack, and shifting around in her seat. She seemed uncomfortable.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Is that ice pack still cold enough?”

“No, no. It’s, I’m fine. I’m just worried about all that has to happen now. You know, calling the tow truck, getting the Jeep fixed, not having a car while that is happening, all that.” Nicole could tell that Waverly was mentally racing through all of her options, adding item after item to her to-do list that was already weighing heavily on her.

“Ah. Yes. Well, if it helps…” Nicole dug around in her pocket a bit and pulled out a slightly crumpled business card, “I can call the tow guys right after I drop you off and get them to go out and get your car first thing in the morning. You can call me tomorrow and I’ll let you know the details?”

“Oh. You would, you would do that?” Waverly took the card that Nicole was still holding.

“Yeah, sure. I still have a few hours of my shift ahead of me and can get a head start on this while you rest that bruised head of yours. It’s not a problem at all.”

Waverly was looking at the card, mouthing “Haught” without actually saying it out loud, and then shifted to look right at Nicole. “That would be amazing, Officer Nicole Haught.” Nicole glanced over and saw the woman smiling brightly at her, and she couldn’t help but smile right back.

After a few more minutes of slowly driving through the snow storm, they finally reached Purgatory’s main drag. Nicole pulled up to Shorty’s bar and put the cruiser in park, but let the engine idle so as to maintain the heat that was still set to warm up Waverly’s feet. 

“Here we are. Do you need help to get inside? Is there someone inside who can help you out if you need anything?” Nicole wanted to make 100% sure that the brunette would be safe and taken care of.

“I’m good, thank you. My aunt might still be here. It’s late, but she often checks the inventory before she leaves. But even if she’s not here, I’ll be okay. Thank you, though. I really appreciate all your help, Officer Haught….I mean, Nicole.”

“Okay. Remember to call me in the morning about the tow truck, yeah?”

Waverly made a show of patting the pocket where she had put the business card. “Will do. I hope it’s really not too much trouble for you to get the ball rolling on that.”

“Nah, it’s fine, Waverly. I’m happy to help. You have a good night, now, and I hope your head feels better tomorrow.” She watched Waverly get out of the car and take a few steps toward the building. But suddenly, she turned and rushed back toward the car. Nicole rolled down the window. “Did you forget something?”

“No. No. I just….good night, Nicole. I’m really glad you were the one who was sent out to get me tonight. Really, really glad!” She smiled and gave Nicole a small wave. “I will call you tomorrow!”

And with that, she was gone and disappeared into the doors of the bar. Nicole stayed put, watching the closed door for a while. She couldn’t help the huge grin on her face. “I can’t wait” she whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole arranges the tow truck and can't stop thinking about her encounter with Waverly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here goes. This was originally intended as a one-shot, but based on the feedback, I've decided to give it a shot and add to this. It's my first venture into anything with multiple chapters, so I have no idea if this works or not. Please tell me to stop if it doesn't!

Nicole stayed true to her word. She slowly made her way back to the station, checked in and sat down at her desk to start the paperwork associated with her night on patrol. That included a report on her encounter with Waverly Earp. As she was jotting down the details of the state Waverly’s vehicle, she paused to call Purgatory’s one and only auto shop that also had an official tow truck. Nicole was well aware that there were a few guys in town with trucks that were capable of towing, or snow removal, or other duties related to dealing with the aftermath of one of the area’s famous snow storms. And generally, the department had no issue with calling in all hands on deck, regardless of whether guys had an official business license to assist with clearing out stuck vehicles or mass amounts of the white stuff. But in this case, Nicole thought it was best to stick to proper procedure and call ‘Purgatory Auto 911’. It was late, so the person picking up the phone was actually the shop’s owner, Dave. Nicole relayed the reason for her call and the description of the location and the Jeep, and then noted that the car belonged to Miss Earp and that she would have Waverly get in touch with Dave tomorrow to discuss further details about repairs, costs and whatever else needed to be taken care of. As soon as Dave heard that the vehicle in question belonged to Waverly Earp, he promised that he would go out himself to get the Jeep the minute the roads were clear enough to do so. He even promised that he would offer Waverly a discount on the tow, mentioning something about how “that girl has been thought enough already, and she is always so nice”. Nicole frowned at that, wondering what he was talking about, but she merely thanked him and told him to stay safe out there while assisting the rest of the town.

The rest of her shift remained mostly uneventful. She was called out a few more times to deal with snow related traffic incidents, but luckily those were all minor and in town, so they didn’t require her to venture out too far in the blizzard. After a couple of hours, the snow seemed to be letting up, and it was now so late that most of Purgatory’s citizens were most likely safely inside somewhere, leaving Nicole time to catch up on her remaining paperwork. With the flurry of the shift’s activities behind her, she had a bit more time to reflect on her encounter with Waverly earlier. She couldn’t deny that meeting her had left her wanting to know more about the brunette, a feeling that was only intensified by the comment Dave had made about giving Waverly a discount on towing her Jeep. Nicole also remembered how Ruthie had reacted when she had heard that it was Waverly who had called the station for assistance. It appeared that Waverly had a good amount of people in town who were rooting for her, and Nicole didn’t quite believe that it was all about wanting to stay in the bartender’s good graces. All in all, her curiosity was peaked, and she thought that maybe she should take Waverly up on her invitation to come to Shorty’s for lunch one of these days. With a little bit of luck, Nicole thought, she might actually be able to see that smile again that Waverly sent her way when she had dropped her off a few hours before.

Morning had rolled around and Nicole was almost done with her shift. It had been a long night, and she was looking forward to going home to her bed and her cat for some well-deserved shut-eye. She had handed off affairs to the day shift, and for once, she was glad she wasn’t in their shoes. They would be dealing with getting the town back in order after the epic snow dump last night, and Nicole had no doubt that they would be getting their fair share of calls to assist with digging out some of the town’s older and more frail residents. Just as she was clearing up her desk and filing away the last bits of paperwork from the night, her phone rang. She groaned for a second, not wanting to add one more thing to her shift, but picked up anyway.

“Purgatory Police Department, Officer Haught speaking.”

“Hi Officer Haught, um, I mean, Nicole, hi! It’s Waverly. Earp. From last night, with the red Jeep, in the ditch, in the snow. You drove me home.”

“Oh, hi Waverly” she paused for a second, “How is your head this morning?”

“Uh, it’s fine. Bit of a headache, but not bad, really. I’ve had many hangovers that were a lot worse than this. Not that I drink all the time, that’s not what I meant, just that this is not as bad.” Nicole heard a giggle on the other end of the line and smiled. “Thank you for asking, Nicole.”

“Of course. I’m glad to hear you are okay, although I am guessing you’ll need a good amount of concealer to cover up that bruise for the next few days.”

“Yeah! I might have to run out and buy some more for sure.” Another slight giggle. “Now, I was wondering about my Jeep…”

“Oh yes. I called Purgatory Auto for you. The roads look decent enough now, so they should have picked it up by now. Dave also promised to give you a discount, so make sure he does, and if he forgets, let me know and I’ll remind him about it.”

“Oh wow. Okay. Thank you, Nicole. Thank you so much, for getting me home last night and for helping out with this. I really appreciate it.”

“Not a problem, Waverly. It’s my job to help.” Nicole knew she had gone above and beyond with arranging the tow, but she really didn’t mind. And in all fairness, it was probably a good idea to get the Jeep out of that ditch so it wouldn’t cause any issues with snow removal and other traffic on that road today. All part of the job, she thought to herself.

“Okay. Still, thank you. My offer still stands about buying you a drink at Shorty’s for lunch if you want. As a thank you.”

Nicole was smiling now. “I’ll remember that. Not sure when I’ll be able to make it, though. My lunchtime plans today involve catching up on some sleep between night shifts, but I’ll for sure drop by when I’m not working or passed out in bed.”

“Sounds good, Officer. I should let you go, then, so you can get home. Drive safe and again, thank you!”

“Not a problem at all, Waverly. It was my pleasure. Have a good day!”

Nicole hung up and could barely control the giddy feeling in her chest. There was something about Waverly, about how she talked, her voice, the adorable rambling that made her feel warm all over. For a brief moment, she thought about cutting short her planned mid-day nap so she could swing by Shorty’s during lunch hour. But just then a deep yawn reminded her that she was actually truly tired and that not getting enough sleep because of a beautiful woman she barely knew was probably not the best idea. ‘Get a hold of yourself, Nicole!’ She shook her head slightly and got up to finally clock out for the time being.

The snow had stopped falling outside and the main roads looked plowed when she stepped outside. It was cold, but the sun was out, reflecting off the fresh layer of snow everywhere. Nicole quickly pulled the brim of her hat down a little to shield her eyes from the glare. She strode over to her cruiser, got in and headed home. On her drive, she took stock of the town. While the main roads were plowed, the smaller side roads still looked mostly untouched, making it difficult to get around. She started worrying about the state of her driveway and whether she would be able to make it to her house without getting stuck along the way. But when she got to her street, she saw a mid-sized truck with snow plowing gear attached to its front end clearing not only the road but her driveway as well. She pulled the cruiser to a stop and waved at the driver. The man looked to be around her age, maybe a little younger. He stopped next to Nicole and rolled down his window.

“Good morning, Officer Haught.” Nicole frowned a bit. She didn’t think she knew the man who was currently flashing a toothy smile at her. “My dad asked me to clear your street, and I saw your driveway and quickly cleared that, too. You should be able to get in and out without problems now.”

“Oh. Well, thank you…”

“Dave Junior. You spoke to my dad, Dave Senior, on the phone last night. Something about towing a Jeep?” 

“Ah, yes. Dave. Junior. It’s very nice to meet you. Thank you so much for clearing away the snow here. That definitely eases one of my worries today.”

“You’re welcome, Officer. Have a good one!”

“You, too, Dave. And please thank your dad for me. That was very nice of him, and you, to get this street cleared. And the driveway. Much appreciated!” She tipped her hat, rolled up her window and pulled into her driveway. She was very relieved that she wouldn’t have to deal with shoveling for the time being, that she could just go inside and get some rest.

After stomping up the steps to her door, to clear most of the snow off her boots, she made it inside, closed the door and let out a big sigh. With the storm, this shift had been more stressful than most, and she was glad to be home now. As soon as she stepped inside, a flash of orange fur came running to greet her.

“Hi girl!” Nicole smiled as she reached down to pet her now aging cat Calamity Jane, CJ for short. “What kind of trouble did you get up to last night?”

The response was a short, squawky meow, followed by the cat rubbing the full length of her body against Nicole’s legs. “Argh, CJ. Now I got your fur all over my pants, again!” The complaint was half-hearted at best, since it was both a common occurrence in Nicole’s life as well as a show of affection that the redheaded officer appreciated deep down. She tried brushing the worst of it off with her hands before straightening up and wandering into the kitchen, the cat following hot on her heels. She quickly cleaned and re-filled CJ’s food and water bowls and trudged over to the fridge. She hadn’t really had time this week to stock up on groceries, so the offerings in her fridge were a little meagre to say the least. After some debate, she pulled out the milk and walked over to the shelf that held a box of cereal. Maybe not ideal dinner, but she glanced at the clock and it was just after nine in the morning, so a perfectly acceptable time for her shredded wheats. She made a mental note to do some proper grocery shopping the next day, or to at least pick up some fruit to have on the side. She could practically hear her grandmother lecturing her about her eating habits and ensuring she at least ate some things that didn’t come from a box or the diner. 

She finished her cereal and put the bowl in the sink, to deal with later. She did, however, rinse the bowl quickly to ensure that CJ would not be tempted to get into the sink to lick any remaining milk out of said bowl while Nicole was asleep. She had learned that lesson the hard way years ago, after waking up to a loud crashing noise and finding a pile of broken dishes in the sink, along with a set of bloody paw prints that led to where her cat was hiding under the couch. It had taken a lot of time to coax her back out, check a small cut on one of her paws and clean up the mess. Now, she rarely left any dishes in the sink at all, but if she did, they were at least rinsed clean enough to not be alluring to her four-legged roommate. 

With increasingly sluggish movements, Nicole left the cat and the kitchen, stepped into her bathroom and got herself ready for bed. As she was washing her face and looking at herself in the mirror, she couldn’t help but think back to the moment she had checked out the bruise on Waverly’s face. It had looked painful then, and likely looked much worse now. She grimaced a little at the memory, but then remembered that the brunette had told her this morning that she was feeling fine. Still, Nicole was wondering if she should stop by Shorty’s tonight during her shift, just to make sure Waverly was really fine. She hoped that by then, things with her Jeep might be mostly sorted out and no longer a worry for the woman, so that maybe they could talk a little bit more about non-accident related things. She really did want to get to know Waverly better, and not just because talking to her made Nicole feel – warm? Intrigued? Happy? She shook her head slightly. She didn’t quite know what exactly she felt around the other woman, but she did know that it was nice and she would be happy to experience this feeling some more. After finishing in the bathroom, Nicole slipped into the bedroom and drew the blackout curtains shut. It didn’t take long for her to crawl under the covers, and for CJ to settle in bed next to her feet. Last night had been good, but long. She was asleep less than five minutes after her head hit the pillow.

Several hours, a shower and a trip to the local bakery later, Nicole was back at her desk at the station. One more night shift and then she would get a couple of days off. She mentally made a to-do list for those days that included shopping for groceries, doing some laundry and also buying some more sticky rolls to get CJ’s fur off her clothes and furniture. She was reading through a summary of incidents from the day shift, and as she had suspected, a lot of them revolved around digging out the town after the snow storm. By now, everything appeared to be mostly back to normal on the roads, aside from certain corners and parking lots where the plows had piled the snow sky-high to get it off the roads. By the end of the week, the forecast was calling for a big jump in the temperatures with Chinook winds, which would likely result in rapid melting and then flooding, followed by a cold front and more snow next week. All in all, it was your typical Alberta winter fun.

Nicole was in the middle of settling down with a report from the night before, to follow up on what had initially just looked like some random vandalism in the back alley behind a local coffee shop. Upon closer investigation, Nicole found the incidents the owner had described to be somewhat unusual, and she wanted to look into it some more. Just as she was getting ready to search for similar reports in the database, she heard someone walk in, followed by a rather cheerful exchange with Ruthie, who was back covering dispatch for the night. Nicole looked up and saw none other than Waverly Earp walk toward her, two travel mugs in hand. She smiled and got up from her desk, walking a few steps toward the other woman.

“Well hello there! I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon, to see you here. Everything okay? Did you get things sorted out with your car?”

Waverly smiled back, wide and dazzling. “Hi. Yes, yes, that’s all good, thanks to you! I should have my Jeep back in a couple of days.” She looked at Nicole and then extended her hand to hold one of the travel mugs out. “I brought you coffee! I figured you could use it, since this is another late shift for you.”

Nicole looked at the mug and carefully took it out of Waverly’s hand. “That’s…thank you, Waverly! That is very kind of you.”

“It’s from the coffee shop on Main. I just don’t do paper cups, so I always bring my reusable ones. In case you were wondering. It really is proper coffee. I also, I didn’t know how you take yours, so I brought some milk” she held up the other travel mug and wiggled it a little “and I have a little container of sugar in my bag.” She turned her body a bit to show Nicole the bag that was slung over her shoulder.

“Wow. You really have it all covered, Miss Earp.” Nicole couldn’t stop the goofy grin that was taking over her face. She took the second travel mug and turned, motioning for Waverly to follow her to her desk.

“I do. I’m a bit of a planner. People say it’s a bit over the top sometimes.” Waverly was looking a bit sheepish at that admission, and Nicole wanted nothing more than to let her know that it was nothing she should feel even remotely bad about.

“Planning is a very good thing, Waverly. I always strive to be as organized as possible, and not just in my work. So, as far as I am concerned, over-the-top planning is my favourite kind of planning.” She held Waverly’s gaze then, trying to show that she truly appreciated this trait in people. She could see the shorter woman scan her eyes, and then her face, looking at her with an intensity that made Nicole’s cheeks feel warm. After a few seconds, Waverly seemed satisfied with what she was seeing in the officer’s face, and they both sat down at Nicole’s desk.

“So, just for the record: I like a little bit of milk in my coffee. And on lazy Sundays in bed, I might add a dash of cinnamon. So this is perfect, thank you.” She opened the lids of both mugs and carefully added a splash of milk to the coffee.

“Good to know about the cinnamon. Did you know that it has anti-inflammatory properties and is very high in antioxidants, so it’s very good for heart health? It’s also supposed to be good for your memory and other brain functions.” Waverly appeared pretty excited about sharing this information.

“Huh. I didn’t know that. I just like the taste of it, in pretty much everything. And now you’re telling me it’s good for me. I call that a win-win!” Nicole felt enchanted by the way Waverly had managed to draw her into a conversation about the health benefits of some spice that Nicole mostly associated with sugary treats and coffee, which she likely drank too much of if she was being honest. 

“Well, if you like it so much, I’ll have to make you some of my famous banana muffins. There's definitely a good helping of cinnamon in those!”

Ruthie must have overheard the last part of the conversation, because less than a second later, they both heard her loudly exclaiming: “Haught! If you manage to convince her to bring by some of those muffins, I will make sure Nedley stops signing you up for all those back to back night shifts!”

Nicole’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline, surprised at both the content and the forcefulness of the statement. Waverly just giggled.

“Well, it’s a deal, then. I’ll bring by some muffins for you two, you get off night shifts, which means you can come by and have a drink with me at Shorty’s. Now that sounds like a win-win to me.” At that, Waverly got up and adjusted the bag that was slung over her shoulder. “I should let you get back to your work. I just wanted to drop off the coffee.” Nicole felt a warm hand land on her upper arm and squeeze. “Bye, Nicole! Have a good shift. And I hope to see you again very soon!”

Nicole managed to choke out a quick “Bye, Waverly!” as the other woman was walking away from her desk and saying goodbye to Ruthie. 

Before Nicole’s brain had fully processed what had just happened, Ruthie was tossing a crumpled up piece of paper at her forehead. “Don’t know what you did, kid, but she likes you! Don’t mess it up! Especially not if it means I get some of those muffins!” 

Nicole blinked a few times. “She likes me?”

Ruthie chuckled and turned back to her desk. “She sure does, kid.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole goes out on patrol and has to intervene in an encounter between Waverly's aunt and some very unsavoury characters. There are glowing eyes, superhuman speed and disappearing acts and Nicole is frustrated and confused when it becomes clear that both Waverly and her aunt know more about this than they let on.

Nicole still sat there, unmoving, long after Ruthie had returned to her own tasks. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of it all. It was obvious that Waverly was being friendly, and perhaps overly grateful for the help with her Jeep. And Nicole could use a friend here, being that she was the newbie in a small town. But hearing Ruthie say that Waverly liked her had propelled Nicole’s thoughts in a direction she had tried to avoid for the past 24 hours. Nicole wasn’t blind. Waverly was unfairly attractive, and everyone could see that, including her. And of course her brain had tried to go down that path a couple of times since their encounter in the snow at the side of the road. But Nicole had reigned herself back in every time. She was new here. She was new in her job, trying to prove herself to Nedley and the guys at the station. She was new in this town, and still very much trying to figure out what the best approach was for fitting in. She didn’t come here to immediately fall for the town sweetheart. No. That wasn’t part of the plan at all. On top of that, Nicole wasn’t even sure what exactly Ruthie meant with her observation. Liking someone could mean a lot of things, so for now, she just shook her head, cleared her throat and got back to the report that was sitting in front of her on her desk. Of course it was sitting right next to the two travel mugs that Waverly had left with her. Nicole added to her mental to-do list that she would have to return those to their owner. To Waverly.

A little over an hour later, Nicole was scheduled to go on patrol for a while. It was late and the middle of the week, so she was hoping that it would be a relatively quiet night for Purgatory. It was cold, and even though it was no longer snowing, the roads were still somewhat treacherous, which hopefully meant that most folks would not be out in this if they didn’t absolutely have to be.

Nicole was driving along the main roads, and everything did indeed appear quiet. Most businesses were long closed, the last employees gone home for the night. The few residential buildings in the core of the town were dark, with only the odd window lit up from the inside. It was all rather serene, and Nicole decided to do one more loop down the main drag and then park somewhere to eat the sandwich she had picked up at the bakery on her way to work. She slowed down a bit as she approached Shorty’s bar. She could see a few bodies inside the lit up windows, but it looked fairly empty. That was a very good thing in her book, since she knew that disturbances at the bar were one of the more common calls the department received, and as much as she wanted to see Waverly again, she would prefer if that didn’t involve breaking up a bar brawl. 

As she was slowly driving along the road, she peeked into the alley that separated the bar from the building next to it. She saw a door open and a woman stepped out carrying a large bag of trash. Nicole was just about to turn her head back to the road when she saw movement behind one of the large dumpsters in the alley. She stopped the cruiser, and her hand automatically went to the radio, ready to call in if she had to intervene. She watched as three rather burley men approached the woman. They were leather clad guys that looked like they had watched too many biker gang movies. They moved toward the woman, evidently exchanging words, but also positioning themselves in a way that made it clear that this was not a friendly chat. Nicole decided to go over, just in case. She radioed in that she was checking up on an interaction behind Shorty’s bar and got out of the vehicle. As she approached, she saw one of the guys look at her with strangely glowing eyes. He muttered something to his companions, who reacted and moved faster than Nicole had ever seen anyone move. One of them grabbed the woman and shoved her against the wall of the bar. She let out a yelp, followed by a string of somewhat threatening curse words. Nicole drew her weapon, but didn’t point it at anyone just yet.

“Purgatory PD! I’d advise you to step back and let go of the lady!”

One of the men growled, honest to god growled. The other, the one who was still pushing the woman against the building, just chuckled. “And why would I do that, Officer? We were just having a conversation. No need for you to get involved.”

“Doesn’t look like just a conversation to me, Mister. I’m not gonna say this again: step back and let her go!”

Nicole could see that the woman was both scared and defiant. She was struggling against the grip of the man, spitting out an insult that sounded like “nutsack”, but Nicole wasn’t sure she had heard that correctly. When the men didn’t move from their positions, Nicole did lift her weapon, slowly and deliberately pointing it in their direction, but away from the struggling woman.

“Last warning. Let. Her. Go. Now!”

What happened next happened so quickly that some of it was lost to Nicole’s eyes. She could see the men looking at each other for a few seconds, followed by a nod. Then, she could see the woman being tossed against the dumpster like she weighed nothing, while at the same time, she felt a body collide with her own at high speed. She could feel the air getting pushed out of her lungs in one short burst as her back hit the side of her cruiser. When she looked up, ready to fire to defend herself and the woman in the alley, the men were gone. Completely gone. She couldn’t see or hear them and wondered briefly whether she had blacked out for a few seconds. She knew she should still be able to hear them if they were running away, and she straightened herself up to look in all directions, but she could hear and see nothing. Well, nothing but the sound of rustling and groaning that was coming from the dumpster in the alley.

“Shit.”

She quickly ran over to the woman who was on the ground, trying to push herself up on her knees. Nicole crouched down in front of her, holstering her gun in the process. She offered her hands to help steady the woman’s movements.

“Are you alright, ma’am?”

“Don’t ma’am me” the woman grumbled. “Name’s Gus. And yeah, I’m alright. Let me just get up and get back inside.”

Nicole scanned her face and body quickly. She could see some reddening near the base of her neck, and some scraped skin on her chin. Her pants looked torn on the side that had hit the ground, and Nicole assumed there’d be a few more abrasions there.

“Ma’am,” the woman glared at her, “sorry, I mean Gus. I can see a few scrapes on your face. Are you in pain anywhere else? I can get you to a hospital to get checked out if you would like.”

“No need. I’m fine, Officer. Please, just let me get back inside.”

Nicole relented. Her preference would have been a proper medical examination for the middle-aged woman still sitting on the ground in front of her, but at her insistence, she helped her up and back inside through the door she had come out of. Inside, they were in a small hallway that opened right into the kitchen behind the bar. Gus grunted and completely ignored the stares the two of them were getting from the man working in the kitchen.

“My office is over there” Gus pointed her chin to another hallway, and Nicole helped her walk across the slippery, greasy kitchen floor to the other side, down a short hallway into a small room that looked more like a storage closet than an office. She eased her down onto the chair that was pushed up against a small desk, and took a step back, eyes still firmly trained on the woman in front of her.

“Gus, my name is Officer Haught. Are you sure you are okay? Can I get you a glass of water?”

Gus glared again, but then her face softened somewhat. “Water would be nice.”

Nicole nodded and turned around to the kitchen. She asked the cook for a glass of water, and even though he shot her several confused looks, he still handed one to her. When she returned to the small office, she handed Gus the water and lowered herself down against the wall a bit so she wouldn’t be towering above the woman who was slumped in the chair. Gus just nodded and took a big gulp of the water.

Nicole waited a few seconds, but then asked “Can you tell me what happened out there? Do you know those men?”

Gus shook her head. “I don’t know them. I have no idea what those idiots wanted, pushing around an old woman like that.”

Then, silence.

Nicole knew just from watching Gus’ body language that she wasn’t telling the whole truth. She was just about to ask a follow-up question, when a familiar voice rang through the short hallway.

“Gus, are you back here? Shorty was just…” Waverly stopped in her tracks when she reached the little office. Her face erupted in a mixture of shock and confusion, one hand flying to her mouth to hold in a gasp. “Oh my god, what, what happened? Gus! You’re hurt!”

Gus looked at Waverly, but didn’t immediately reply, so Nicole spoke up: “I was just out on patrol, and I saw three men cornering her in the alley. I intervened, but they still managed to toss her against the dumpster outside and tackle me in the process. I don’t even know how that happened. They were way too fast, unnaturally fast, and then they were just gone without a trace.”

Waverly’s eyes went wide, moving frantically between Gus and Nicole. All colour completely drained from her face in a matter of seconds. “They tackled you? Are you hurt?”

Nicole shook her head. Sure, she might be a bit bruised tomorrow, but she wasn’t worried about that. “No, no. I am fine. But Gus didn’t escape unharmed.” She looked back to the woman in the chair. “I would still prefer if you let me take you to the hospital to get checked out. And to get those scrapes cleaned.”

“No! There is no need for that! I am fine, and I can clean those myself. We have a first aid kit here, so I can take care of that.” Gus appeared almost livid at the suggestion of being taken to the hospital, so Nicole held up her hands to signal that she wasn’t going to force anyone to do anything.

Trying to diffuse the situation, Waverly put a hand on Gus’ shoulder while facing Nicole. “It’s okay, Nicole. I’ll take care of my aunt, get her cleaned up and I can take her home after. And I promise that if she is more hurt that she is letting on right now, I will take her to the hospital myself.”

Nicole was silent for a minute. She could tell there was something going on between Waverly and her aunt that she didn’t quite understand. But then, they were family, and if there was one thing Nicole understood it was awkward family secrets. She straightened up from where she had been half crouched against the wall. She had to bite back a wince; her back was reminding her of her collision with her cruiser.

“Okay. Thank you, Waverly. Gus, I hope you feel better soon. And if you remember anything more about tonight or those men, please call me, or anyone else at the station. Same goes for if you see them again. Please call right away if that happens.” She nodded slightly at both women and walked out toward the kitchen and back door. She wanted to take a closer look at the alley to see if those men had maybe dropped anything or left any other signs that might help her figure out what exactly had happened there.

Just as she was about to push open the back door, she heard someone call her name.

“Nicole!” She turned to see Waverly walking toward her. “Thank you. For being here tonight, and for stepping in. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to Gus.”

Nicole could see pure worry in Waverly’s eyes, and her own chest tightened in response. “I’m glad I was there, too.” She reached out and let the tips of her fingers briefly brush against Waverly’s arm. “I’m gonna go out there and see if I can find anything that can help identify those men.” She paused, watching Waverly’s face carefully. She thought she saw a brief flicker of panic, but it was quickly replaced with an unreadable expression. “I just don’t want them to come back again and cause more trouble. Now go, take care of your aunt like you promised.”

With that, she turned and pushed the door open and stepped out into the cold.

“Okay.” Waverly stood by the door, holding it open. There was a brief moment of silence and Nicole was already half-focussed on scanning the ground near the dumpster, but then Waverly spoke up again. “Please, Nicole, be careful.”

Nicole looked up and frowned. She wasn’t sure what Waverly meant. Careful about looking around the alley? Surely, there wasn’t much there to worry about other than maybe some broken glass and icy ground. But her tone of voice made it clear that the shorter woman was truly concerned about something, and about Nicole getting involved in it somehow.

“Waverly, is there something you want to tell me about this incident tonight? Do you know who those men were or what they wanted from your aunt?”

Again, there was that flash of panic across the other woman’s face. “What? No! No.” Nicole watched as Waverly pulled one arm around her middle. “I just meant in general. You’re a cop, and you go and intervene in dangerous situations, like tonight. So I just meant be careful, in general.”

Nicole continued watching the other woman. It was glaringly obvious that Waverly was hiding something, and Nicole had half a mind to properly interrogate her to get to the bottom of it. But underneath the deception, she could also see pain, and fear, but mostly pain. Nicole hesitated. She took a breath as if she was about to say something, and then stopped herself. Instead, she looked right at Waverly and simply said “You, too.”

Waverly nodded. They were both staring at each other, both leaving things unsaid. After a beat, Nicole vaguely waved her hands toward the ground and the dumpster. 

“Okay, Waverly, I’m just gonna take a look around and then I’ll get out of your hair. You know where to find me if you need anything, yeah? Anything. I mean it. Just call.”

“Okay.” 

Nicole smiled at her then, and saw the other woman’s lips twitch up a bit, too. She turned around and started scanning the ground, crouching down so she could take a closer look at some of the footprints in the snow. A few seconds later, she heard the door click shut. She shook her head and pushed her thoughts about Waverly’s odd behaviour into the back of her mind for now. She pulled out her phone and took a few photos of the footprints, placing a pen beside them for scale. After that, she looked around the alley some more, searching the sides and corners for anything that might give her a clue as to who those men were, but she came up empty. Frustrated, she blew out a breath and decided to head back to the station for now.

It didn’t take long for Nicole to find herself back at her desk, trying to write up a report about the incident at Shorty’s. She could feel her back and ribs throbbing now, and it reminded her how quickly the man who charged her had managed to knock the air right out of her. One of her hands bunched into a fist. What she hated most was that she didn’t see it coming at all. It all happened too fast. She should have seen it. She should have been able to brace herself or avoid the collision. She had worked so hard to get herself to a point where no one would openly question her physical readiness for the job she had chosen for herself. She thought back to all those late nights at the Academy when she put in extra hours at the gym, all the early morning runs through woods and over obstacles while her male counterparts were still asleep. And it wasn’t just the physical side where she had worked twice as hard as then men in her cohort, and it had all payed off in the end. She had graduated top of her class after all. But now, in her first real job as an officer, less than a month in, she had found herself tackled against her cruiser with no ability to stop it. The whole situation could have ended so much worse and Nicole wouldn’t have been able to stop it. Thinking about that made her shudder, which only made her back hurt more. 

Groaning in frustration, she tried to focus on just writing down the facts in her report. So far, the key points she had jotted down included glowing eyes, superhuman speed and a disappearing act that would have put Houdini himself to shame. She looked down at what she had written and rubbed both hands over her face.

“What the hell is going on here?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole returns the travel mugs to Waverly. She also wants to ask her a few more questions about the incident from the previous night, and that's where things go wrong.

Nicole had managed to make it through the rest of her shift without any additional incidents. For the most part, she had sat at her desk with paperwork, which was not her favourite part of the job to begin with, but it was even harder when the report she had to write made such little sense even to herself. Eventually, it was time to call it a day, or night, and head home. 

Nicole had the next day off, and she wanted to get a few household chores done, or at least started before she would catch a few hours of sleep. But as soon as she stepped into her house and closed the door behind her, she could feel the events of the day catching up with her. Her back was sore and she decided to try and loosen up the muscles a bit with a hot shower. It took a little longer than usual to undress, her body felt stiff and slow. While peeling the final layer over her head, Nicole could spot a good-sized bruise along her back, covering parts of her shoulder and ribs. She sighed and stepped under the warm spray where she could feel her body slowly relax after a while. She stayed in the shower a lot longer than her usual five minutes, but it helped both with the soreness as well as with finally letting her thoughts shift away from the alley behind Shorty’s. 

By the time she put on some sweatpants and an old, baggy hooded sweatshirt, she felt almost normal again. She grabbed her laundry to put on a load, and then sat down on her couch to finally eat that sandwich that she had been carrying around with her all night. CJ sat on the armrest next to her, watching Nicole’s movements like a hawk. Nicole chuckled. “Come on, girl, you have your own food! You make it look like you are starving here.” The cat just stared at her and then back at the hand that was holding the last bit of sandwich. “You little monster” Nicole said softly as she peeled off a small bit of cheese and put it on the armrest, where it was gobbled up within seconds. “Like I could ever say no to that face.”

After flicking on the TV for a bit to catch up on the women’s hockey game that she had recorded, Nicole decided to head off to bed for a few hours before making her way out to the store. As she was pulling the blankets over her body, she made up her mind about something else: she would stop by Shorty’s bar later to check on Gus and Waverly. She needed to make sure both of them were okay, and given that some time had passed since their last encounter, she was hoping that the two women might be a bit more forthcoming with information about those men and what they wanted. With her thoughts firmly locked on the events of the night yet again, Nicole fell into a fitful sleep. 

A few hours later, she heard her alarm go off and it felt like she hadn’t slept much at all. She felt groggy and desperately needed coffee. On her counter next to the French press, she spotted the two travel mugs that Waverly had left with her last night. Nicole smiled. That interaction now seemed like it had happened long ago, almost in another life. But Nicole reminded herself that it really was less than a day ago that Waverly had showed up at her desk with her bright smile and her various containers. And now, the travel mugs gave her a perfect excuse to go to Shorty’s without making it seem like an official follow-up on last night.

Freshly caffeinated and dressed in still casual but more winter appropriate clothes, Nicole left the house. She went to the store first and stocked up both on essentials and on some fresh fruits and veggies to get her through a few days. She was determined to get at least a couple of days in where she would cook herself a proper meal instead of relying on cereal or pre-made sandwiches. Satisfied, she put the groceries in her car and headed over to the bar.

It was just after 2pm when Nicole approached the heavy door underneath the “Shorty’s Saloon” sign. It was a weird time to go into a bar; not quite lunchtime anymore, but also way too early for an after work drink, and for a second Nicole hesitated. But then she looked down at the travel mugs in her hand and decided to push the doors open. As expected, the place was almost completely empty. She spotted two older guys sitting in one of the booths in the corner, and a woman sitting right at the bar chatting idly with the short brunette behind the bar. Nicole sucked in a quick breath and straightened up her shoulders before she took several long strides towards the bar.

“Nicole!” Waverly shot her a small smile.

“Hey.”

Waverly glanced at the clock on the wall. “You missed the lunch crowd. Smart! Now you won’t have to wait long for food if you want to order anything?”

“Oh, I’m not really hungry.” Nicole’s body was still on night shift schedule, which always messed up her appetite. 

Waverly’s smile fell a little. “Oh, okay. Can I get you anything to drink, then? On the house.”

Nicole smiled. She remembered the promise of a free drink, and for a brief moment, she wanted nothing more than to settle in on one of the bar stools, have a beer and let the afternoon drift by while watching Waverly work. But there were groceries in her car that needed to be taken care of soon, and she would have to drive home, too. “Uh, can I, can I just get a ginger ale, please?”

Waverly cocked her head to the side as if she was trying to figure out something about the woman in front of her, but then she smiled again and grabbed a glass. “One ginger ale, coming right up.”

Nicole glanced over to her side at the woman who had been chatting with Waverly before she walked in. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you guys.”  
“No worries.” The other woman sent her a wink. “You’re Nicole Haught, right?”

Nicole nodded, surprised. “Um. Yeah. I am. And you are?”

“Chrissy. Nedley. My dad has told me about you. He talks about you a lot, actually. And I put two and two together with the red hair, your age and the way you scanned the room when you came in. The only people I know who do that are cops.”

Nicole’s eyes went wide. “You’re the Sheriff’s daughter?”

“The one and only! Nice to meet you, Nicole.” She held out a hand and Nicole took it.

“Nice to meet you, too, Chrissy!”

A second later, Waverly returned and placed a large glass of ginger ale in front of Nicole. “Here you go! I see you’ve introduced yourselves to each other?”

The two women nodded. Nicole took a sip of her pop. She still felt like she was interrupting something and thought she should probably just down her drink and head out. 

Just as she had taken a rather large gulp, she saw Chrissy gather her purse and coat.

“Waves, I’m gonna head out. I still need to swing by the station and drop these apples off for dad.” She pointed to a bag sitting next to her on a chair. Facing Nicole, she added “I’m trying to get him to eat more fruits and veggies, and apples are pretty much the only thing he’ll touch that is not greasy or deep fried.”

Nicole nodded. She had gotten a first hand look at Nedley’s eating habits and knew they were not all that different from her own, if maybe a bit more heavy on the red meats. Nicole was more a chicken and fish kind of girl, but she did admit that her diet was far from healthy at this point, especially given the random work schedules that were regularly messing with her ability to plan and cook proper meals. 

She watched Waverly come around to the front of the bar to hug her friend. “Bye Chrissy! Thanks for stopping by! I’m off tomorrow, maybe we can do coffee?”

“You got it, Waves! Say hi to Gus from me, too. I hope she feels better soon! Bye Nicole!”

Gus. Nicole’s stomach clenched at the mention of the older woman. She sent Chrissy a small wave and watched her walk through the doors. Waverly returned to her spot behind the bar after she had checked up on the two guys who were still in the booth. 

She traced the condensation on her glass and looked up at Waverly. “How is Gus doing?”

“She’s okay. Couple of scratches and a bruised shoulder, but fine. How are you? Gus told me she saw you get slammed into your cruiser pretty hard.”

Nicole shifted uncomfortably on her chair. She still felt horrible about that part of the incident, like she had failed both Gus and herself in that moment. She really didn’t want to talk about it, especially not with the brunette in front of her. “I’m fine, Waverly.” The words came out a little harsher than she wanted, she sounded annoyed with a capital A, and she could see Waverly take a step back, closing off her facial expression. She immediately wanted to apologize, but she also really didn’t want to continue this conversation.

“Okay, well, holler if you want a refill or anything else.” The words sounded flat, distant, like something she would say to any random customer. A second later, Waverly turned and disappeared into the kitchen. 

Nicole sighed and rubbed one hand over her face. That did not go as planned. She placed both hands on the bar top, palms down next to her drink. The wood felt slightly sticky and cold, but it gave her something to focus on. Waverly remained out of sight for a while, and Nicole was tempted to pack up and head out, but she didn’t want to leave on a sour note like that, especially when Waverly had been nothing but friendly to her. She decided to stick it out and wait, at least until she could give Waverly those damn travel mugs back and maybe turn this whole encounter into something that didn’t make her want to hide in her house for the next month.

It took longer than Nicole had thought, but eventually, Waverly emerged from the kitchen holding a plate in her hands. She watched her bring it over to the two guys and exchange a few words that resulted in loud laughter from all three of them. A short while later, Waverly stood in front of her again with a guarded expression. She pointed at Nicole’s almost empty glass. “You want another?”

“No, thank you. Wave, uh, Waverly, I, I mostly just came in to give these back to you.” She gently moved the two mugs toward the other woman. “And to tell you how much I appreciate that you brought me coffee the other night. That was really kind. And so is, uh, this, the ginger ale. Thank you for that, too.” She was almost breathless at this point. She really wanted Waverly to know how much she appreciated the kind gestures and friendly words, but mostly, she wanted Waverly to forget about her annoyed tone earlier, and preferably without having to bring it up directly. 

It looked like it was working, too. The brunette was smiling at her again. “You’re very welcome, Nicole. It was kind of a thank you to you, so you don’t really need to thank me for that. Kinda defeats the purpose, and all that.” She giggled a little, and waved her hand around as if to shrug off the whole conversation. Nicole found herself entranced by both the sound and the movements coming from Waverly, and she just stared at her for a few seconds until both women blushed a little and looked away. 

“I really appreciate it, Waverly.” Nicole managed to stutter out.

They descended into a few minutes of silence. It wasn’t all awkward, but it wasn’t fully comfortable either. After a while, Nicole remembered her mental to-do list. She had returned the mugs, but she remembered that she also wanted to see if Waverly would be able and willing to tell her more about what had happened last night between Gus and those men.

“Waverly?”

The brunette looked up and right at her, giving her all of her attention.

“Last night, when I brought Gus inside,” she took a breath and catalogued how Waverly’s stance shifted, how she pulled her shoulders up, but she pressed on. “She didn’t want to tell me what those guys said to her. And I noticed that you and your aunt had some sort of silent conversation going on there for a while.” She took another breath, not 100% sure how she wanted to phrase this next part. “Do you have any idea at all what happened? Why those men were here and talking to your aunt?” She tried to keep her question open. She wasn’t here in an official capacity after all, so this wasn’t an interview. She just wanted to open the door and see if Waverly wanted to share anything with her.

Waverly’s eyes flickered. In a split second, they went from curious to guarded to downright furious.

“We both told you last night that we didn’t know why they were here. I can’t even believe you right now. You come in here, my place of work, and you are all nice and show off those damn dimples and, hell, you even brought back my mugs, and now you, you…” She was puffing out her breaths, and Nicole straightened up, holding up both hands defensively. “Were you just trying to trick me into feeling comfortable with you so you could interrogate me while my guard is down? Pretty sure that’s not entirely kosher…Officer Haught!”

“Whoa, no, Waverly…” The brunette’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Miss Earp. That’s not, I didn’t mean to…”

“Maybe you should leave.” Waverly puffed out her chest, but Nicole could see that her hands were shaking, and her voice started to sound almost like she was pleading, not demanding. “And please just, just stay out of it, out of our business.”

Waverly’s chin was wobbling by the time she finished her sentence, and Nicole could see that she was barely holding herself together. She slid off the chair and grabbed her coat, eyes firmly locked on the woman behind the bar. 

“I am sorry, Waverly. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She took a few steps backwards toward the door, still facing the bar. “Thank you again for the drink.”

At that, she turned and walked out. Just before the door shut behind her, she swore she heard a quiet “Please be safe”, but maybe that was just her imagination. 

Nicole sat in her car outside of Shorty’s, willing her hands to stop shaking. Her mind was spinning, replaying the last few minutes on a loop. She really hadn’t intended to make Waverly uncomfortable, but the reaction made it clear that that’s exactly what she did. And maybe Nicole should have kept any follow-up questions for a time when she was in uniform and talking to Waverly as Officer Haught, not as Nicole who stopped by the bar to return some mugs. At the same time, Nicole noticed just how strongly the brunette had reacted, and it made her wonder. She knew that strong reactions like that usually meant there was a bigger story to be uncovered. She could also see that Waverly was obviously afraid, but normally, when Nicole was dealing with witnesses or families involved in a crime, the person showed fear for themselves or their family. Fear of getting hurt by another party, fear of getting caught by police, fear of having to re-live trauma. Those were common reactions. What Waverly had shown her last night and again tonight was different. And she knew she had to figure out what it was.

She calmed herself down enough to drive, and as she was pulling out onto the road, all she could think was “this place is weird!”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts out as a terrible, no good, horrible day, but it ends with a promising talk. And maybe also with banana muffins.

“Ah fuck!” 

“Haught! What’s going on? I’ve heard you swear more in the last hour than in the entire month I’ve known you.” Ruthie glared at her. She obviously wasn’t thrilled with the amount of curse words that had been filling the normally quiet station all morning.

“Sorry, Ruthie. I’m having some stapler issues.” And before that, it was issues with the coffee maker, and before that, it was a drawer in her desk that had given her trouble. Nicole was tired. And grumpy. And she was taking it out on all sorts of office equipment.

“Okay, but maybe tone it down a notch on the cussing? Nedley should be here any minute, and I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate hearing this sort of thing coming from his favourite deputy.”

“Favourite?” Nicole didn’t see that one coming. And of course, because she was no longer looking down at the stapler, no longer paying attention, she proceeded to attach a report to a stack of forms that was sitting on her desk. She groaned, but managed to hold in the words that were sitting on the tip of her tongue.

“Nicole! You can’t be that blind. The old man respects the hell out of you. And what on earth is going on with you this morning? I’ve never seen you so…unfocussed.”

Nicole sat down and started to peel the staple out of the stack of paper in front of her. “I had a weird day yesterday and didn’t sleep well. Changing shifts threw me off a bit, I guess. Sorry! I’ll try to, maybe I’ll go for a quick walk around the block for some air.”

Just as she was about to grab her coat, Sheriff Nedley walked in and gave her a stern look. “Haught! My office! Now!”

Nicole’s eyes went wide. She quickly dropped her stuff and scrambled to follow Nedley into his office.

“Door.”

Nicole complied and sat down in front of his desk. She felt like she was about to be chided by the school principal, only she had no idea for what. She struggled to swallow and placed her sweaty palms down on her thighs.

“We haven’t really crossed paths much in the last couple of days.” Nedley looked at her, his voice sounded a bit less rough now. “How’re those night shifts treating you? I know coming back to days after doing a few of those can be hard.”

“Sir, I’m good. Getting used to it all.” Nicole hated how unsure she sounded in that moment.

“Good. That’s good.” He looked down at his desk for a few seconds. “I read your report. From the other night. The incident behind Shorty’s.”

He looked up and Nicole held his gaze. She was pretty sure she had stopped breathing at this point. She had written up the incident exactly how she remembered it, including the parts that sounded unbelievable even to her own ears. But it was what she had experienced and she wasn’t about to lie in her reports. She nodded and waited for Nedley to continue.

“I talked to Gus this morning on my way in. To get her account.”

Nicole took a breath. She wanted to ask how Gus was doing, and explain. But Nedley held up his hand. 

“She is fine. She said that’s thanks to you.” He nodded at Nicole then, and she could feel her heart beat slightly less erratically now. “And I wanted to thank you for that. For what you did there. But Nicole, this report? Are you sure this is what you want to put down as your official account of what happened?”

There it was. Of course he didn’t believe her. Hell, she didn’t even know if she believed it herself.

“Sir” she started, but Nedley cut in.

“No, Nicole. This?” He waved the report in his hands. “This reads like bad science fiction, not like a police report. Now, I know that it was a scary moment for you and Gus, and I’ll chalk this up to that. Glowing eyes, superhuman speed? This town, it’s quirky, but if you think it’s anything more than that, you might as well hand in your resignation now.”

Nicole’s eyebrows shot up. “Sir, no. I don’t want to resign. I like it here.” She was about to defend herself, to explain, but Nedley interrupted again.

“Good.”

Good? Not good at all. This place was weird, and the incident was weird, and the report did detail the event exactly as it happened. But now, Nedley essentially told her it didn’t happen that way, couldn’t have happened that way. And for a brief moment, Nicole started to doubt her own recollection of the details of that night. But then she remembered those eyes. And the growling. And getting slammed into her cruiser. She huffed out a breath. It was apparent that for Nedley, the discussion was over, so she got up and nodded at him.

“I’ll re-do the report.” She tried to keep her annoyance out of her voice, but wasn’t sure if she had succeeded. With another huff, she left his office. Now she really needed that walk to clear her head.

She brushed past a surprised looking Ruthie, took a few quick strides to her desk to grab her coat and then out of the door. Once outside, she could feel the cold air sting in her lungs as she inhaled deeply. She zipped up her coat all the way and started to walk past the parking lot, making her way away from the main road and toward the quieter side roads. She really didn’t want to run into anybody right now. She didn’t think she had it in her right now to engage in polite small talk with one of Purgatory’s citizens.

Science fiction. Fiction! Nedley essentially told her that what she had written down was made up. And sure, the details were beyond strange, but they were the truth. It stung that her boss had told her otherwise. She picked up her pace, stomping along the sidewalk. And then there was the whole issue with Waverly. Waverly, who had been nothing but friendly in their first encounters, who, according to Ruthie, ‘liked her’, whatever that meant. And who had snapped at Nicole the minute she asked a question about the events from that night. Nicole shook her head. The whole thing was off. She knew it deep in her bones. She knew she had seen what she had seen, and she could tell that both Waverly and now Nedley were trying to steer her away from following up on what she had seen. She just didn’t know why. With Waverly, she suspected that the younger woman was trying to protect someone. But with Nedley, Nicole had no idea why he was trying to get her to change her report. Did he really think that she wasn’t telling the truth?

Frowning deeply, Nicole rounded a corner in an attempt to make her way back to the station. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and promptly collided with another person. She let out a startled grunt, but also immediately grabbed for the other person to avoid either of them hitting the ground.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention!”

She knew that voice. Waverly.

“Well, same goes for me, so I am sorry, too!” She held out both hands, holding on to Waverly’s elbows to steady her. “Are you okay?”

Waverly glanced up at Nicole and then down at her coat and a little bag that was lying on the ground between them. “Yes, all good, no worries. Well, all good except for my banana muffins. They might be a little squished now.” She bent down to pick up the bag and held it up toward Nicole. “I brought these, for you. Well, I was on my way to the station, and I was hoping you’d be there. I don’t know your schedule, so I didn’t know if you’d actually be there. But you are. Here, I mean.”

“You brought me muffins?” Nicole was confused. Less than 24 hours ago, Waverly and told her to leave, and to stay out of her business. And now she was here, she had been looking for her, all smiles and with muffins in hand. It made Nicole’s head spin.

“Yes.” Waverly now looked right at Nicole, scanning her face. “Nicole, I, can we talk?”

“Uh, sure. Do you want to, we can go back to the station and talk there?” Nicole wasn’t sure what kind of talk this was, if it was work related or not, so she didn’t quite know what an appropriate location for it would be.

“Can we, maybe, find somewhere more…private?” Waverly’s face was serious, but friendly. Whatever she wanted to talk about was important, so Nicole didn’t want to delay it by trying to find some other building where they could be alone.

“We can talk in my cruiser if you want?” Waverly hesitated but then nodded.

She led the other woman over to the parking lot and opened the passenger side for her before getting in the driver’s seat herself. It was cold, and both of their breaths were showing up as little white clouds, even inside the vehicle. Nicole turned the engine over to get the heat started, but left the car in park and shifted herself so she was facing Waverly more directly.

“This feels very deja-vu.” Waverly said, waving her hands around. “You, me, in the cruiser and my toes are freezing again.”

Nicole adjusted the heat so it would be directed at their feet. “Yeah. Twice in a couple of days, that’s almost a pattern.” She smiled a bit, reacting to Waverly’s tone and body language that seemed open and friendly again, much like when they first met. 

“Listen…” they both said in unison, both chuckling when they noticed that they were trying to talk at the same time.

“You first.” Waverly insisted. 

Nicole let out a breath, and it came out like a half laugh. She was nervous. “Okay, well, I wanted to apologize. For making you feel uncomfortable yesterday.” Was that really only yesterday? “And I know I should have waited with any follow-ups until I was there in an official capacity. You were right about that. I shouldn’t have asked you about that night on my day off. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. And I didn’t do it to trick you. I was just, I am confused, Waverly. This town, the things I saw, I’m trying to make sense of it all, and I keep running into brick walls. No one will tell me anything. But I know there is something going on here. That’s why I asked that question.” She could hear how her voice was wavering by the time she got to the last part. She took another deep breath and sat up a bit straighter. “I never meant to make you uncomfortable.”

Waverly just watched her for a few seconds, and it looked like she was trying to decide her own next move.

“I know, Nicole. Look, I want to apologize, too. I shouldn’t have snapped like that.” Waverly looked down at her hands in her lap, and she started fiddling with the end of her scarf. “I know you were just trying to get the truth. I just, I can’t even begin to imagine how confusing all this must be for you.”

For a moment, Nicole wasn’t sure exactly what Waverly meant with ‘this’. She was gesturing between them, and for Nicole, that part was also very confusing. Were they still talking about the events in the alley? Or did Waverly mean something else now?

“I want to tell you, Nicole. But I can’t. It’s not safe.”

Now, the alarm bells were ringing in Nicole’s head. Was Waverly in danger? Had she put her in danger by pushing her to come forward with information?

“Waverly, what do you mean? Are you in danger? We can protect you. You and Gus, and you said you have a sister, too. We can get something set up to protect all of you.” In her mind, she was already starting to think about how she would set that up, but she needed more information to determine what kind of protection Waverly and her family needed.

“No, Nicole. Listen.” Waverly grabbed her hand then, forcing her to focus on the woman in front of her. “When I said it’s not safe, I meant it’s not safe for you!” Nicole frowned, but Waverly continued. “My sister and I, my family, we’re fine. We can take care of ourselves, we protect each other. But you? I can’t explain, and I wish I could. So please just trust me on this, okay?”

“Waverly, what exactly are you telling me?”

Nicole could feel the nervousness radiating off of the other woman. She wanted to reach out and comfort her, tell her that everything would be okay. But she could also tell that she needed to let Waverly finish, on her own terms.

“I don’t know.” There was frustration in her voice now. “I don’t know, Nicole. I know that I…that I want to get to know you better. Really get to know you. But I also know that being around our family, it isn’t safe, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Waverly, I’m a cop. Going to where the danger is, that’s kinda my job. And I’m good at my job. I trained hard to get to where I am.” She was really smiling now. She was able to share with Waverly how much her job meant to her. But she also wanted her to know that she was hearing the other woman’s concerns. “Listen, I appreciate that you are trying to protect me, from whatever it is that you are trying to protect me from. But I am a Sheriff’s Deputy in this town. And if there is something weird going on here, I guess I’m going to run into that again sooner or later, and I don’t see how you or I could stop it from happening.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Waverly sounded defeated now.

“Hey,” Nicole said softly, waiting for the other woman to look up. “If you can’t tell me what’s going on, that’s okay for now. I won’t lie, I’d rather know, but I’m assuming you have your reasons, and that’s okay. I don’t want you doing anything that doesn’t feel safe for you, that doesn’t feel right. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“And maybe we both don’t have to have things completely figured out right away either. Maybe we can just, I don’t know, sort it out as we go?”

She watched as a big, bright smile took over Waverly’s face, and her eyes were crinkling into little half-moon shapes. It was the most beautiful thing Nicole had ever seen.

“I’d like that, Nicole. I’d really like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, folks. Thank you all so much for the comments and encouragement here. I didn't really know what I was doing when I went with your suggestions to turn this into a multi-chapter story, but I hope it turned out readable anyway.


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